Apulian Gnathia Bull Guttos

An ancient Apulian Gnathia ware guttos with a lateral ring handle in the form of a barrel-shaped bull with a central funnel and spout tail painted with vines in white.

Apulia, Magna Graecia.
Ca. 350 - 300 BC.
Length: 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm).

Gnathia ware is so named as it was first found at the Apulian site of Egnathia. The black glaze ware is often decorated with applied red, white, or yellow painted floral motifs. Production probably was centered around Taras, with workshops in Egnathia, Canosa and Sicily. The output and quality of the Greek colonial potters working in Southern Italy increased greatly following the Peloponnesian War when Attic exports fell off sharply. South Italian Colonial Greek craftsmanship of the 4th century BC was an amalgamation of the Ionian (Athenian, Attic) conventions, and Doric (western colonial Greek) styles, with a noticeable native Italian aesthetic. The five predominant regional schools of South Italian pottery were: Apulian, Sicilian, Lucanian, Paestan, and Campanian.

Formerly in the collection of Jerome Eisenberg, New York; acquired at Sotheby's, New York, December 1993, lot 328.
Inv#: 9423
Guaranteed Authentic

$4,500

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